Something Different
by Twilight1rox
Summary: Edward's made a mistake. Now he's got a very large reminder of that. A baby. Not just any baby though. Noelle Cullen is born with Trisomy 21, or Down Syndrome. Can Edward manage being a single dad to a baby with special needs? AH, Dadward,OOC, Even. ExB
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: This story is very near and dear to my heart. Please don't be too harsh. Carlisle and Esme will go by mom, dad, mother, father, and Carlisle and Esme. This isn't going to be your typical story, but it is one that I love. This has some things to do with my family, and I hope you enjoy.

I walked around, pacing quietly as I waited. How could this have happened? We were careful, and I was sure this would never happened. Edward Cullen doesn't slip up. If that was so true, then why were we here? Why was I waiting for my girlfriend to tell me if she was right? I tried to breathe deeply as I ran my fingers through my hair, nearly ripping it out.

I heard a gasp and a choked sob come from the bathroom, and I closed my eyes. So it was true. I sighed as my heart fell into my stomach. There was no doubt in my mind that this was my fault. This was no one else's mistake besides mine and Lauren's. I started shaking my head, hoping this would go away. I sat down and put my head in my lap as I felt my heart pounding, knowing the words were coming. I heard the door creak open and I looked up to see Lauren's face streaked with tears. I waited, just watching her.

"Edward, I'm pregnant."She whispered, and just like that, my entire world was destroyed.

"Edward, you're only twenty-three! How do you think you two will be able to handle a child together?"Carlisle looked disappointed with me. I groaned internally. I knew this would be his reaction. "I say you opt for an abortion. You're too young for a baby, and a baby should not be brought into this world to unhappy and unwilling parents." I heard Esme gasp.

"So you think that instead of having a baby brought into this world and have something like adoption take place, that this helpless baby should just not have the chance at life?" I felt the waves of disapproval come off of her towards Carlisle. I pressed my head into my hands again and felt absolutely wretched as they started to fight.

"Stop!" I yelled. "Just…stop. This is going to happen one way or another. You know that she's the pastor's daughter, and I don't want her to have an abortion anyway. She's already told her parents, and they would disown her. I can't have her whole life destroyed because of my mistake."  
>"If she keeps this baby, her life is over anyway. At least you can move on if you don't have a constant reminder that you screwed up for the rest of your life." Carlisle weighed in.<p>

"That doesn't mean we just get rid of it! What if my parents had done that? You never would've even had me." I growled, exasperated. My mother nodded, her eyes tearing as she came towards me, arms stretched out for a hug. I let myself be taken into her arms.

"I knew I raised my son right."She whispered in my ear. I grinned, but Carlisle scowled.

"You made your bed. Now you can lie in it." Carlisle said before stalking out of the room. I knew that he was disappointed in me. After my older brother, Emmett, got married so young, and Jasper, my younger brother, decided to go into the army, I knew he wanted me to step up and be the doctor. I was his greatest disappointment, becoming a musician and staying as far away from Medical School as I could. I screwed up and I did drugs for a while, but it never got serious. I slept with girls, and I got drunk, but nothing ever happened until now. I'd never even really been serious with a girl until Lauren, at least not emotionally. Lauren was the first girl I'd ever cared about. She was the minister's daughter, and he always hated me. He thought I was never good enough for his daughter and thought I was a terrible influence. I suppose he was right. We met in college at Brown during my senior year. She was 20 years old. We had only been together for 11 months when she found out she was pregnant. Mom and dad had to move back to Washington that year when dad's job was transferred to Seattle. He was one of the most renowned pediatric cardiologists in the country, and they needed him at Seattle Children's Hospital. I was left in Providence, Rhode Island with just me and Lauren.

Soon after, everything changed. I wanted to be there for Lauren. I wanted to do what Emmett had done, and get married young. I wanted to make her my bride and make sure that the baby was well provided for. I changed my entire life, and got enrolled in Business school at Brown, and worked as hard as I could. Laruen didn't want any of it. She said I had ruined her life, and that she couldn't do it anymore. She left college during the end of her Junior year, never graduating, and went to live with her dad in Barrington and I didn't hear from her for ages. I heard from a mutual friend that there were some problems with the baby, but I assumed they were really small. She would've called me if anything was really bad, right?

So I assumed she didn't want me in the baby's life. It made me disappointed and depressed beyond belief, so I threw myself into my work, killing myself to finish school as quickly as possible. My teachers said I was their most dedicated workers that they had, and I knew I needed to be. Even if I wasn't allowed to be physically present in the baby's life, I knew that Lauren needed me to pay the money. The baby was partially mine too, god damnit, and I needed to be some sort of a father to it. I wanted to be the father I never had. My father left my mother before I was five, but I remember the screams my mother emitted as he beat her senseless. At the age of six, my mother dropped me off at a fire station and never looked back. I needed to do something for my kid.

Time went on, and I never heard anything about my child. The months rolled on and still no word. I counted back the months, and knew that if the baby was on time, it would be about a month old. I knew I needed to call Lauren soon, if I could even figure out a way to contact her. Then came that fateful day.

It was the day my life flipped upside down for the second time in a year. It was a few days after Valentine's day. The baby must be a month old, I thought…if she had even had it. I was sitting in the Seven Stars Bakery on Hope Street in Providence. My phone rang, and I stared at the screen. It was an unknown number, one that I had never seen before. I picked up, my heart suddenly beating faster.

"Is this Edward Cullen?"A male voice, sounding sober, asked.

"Yes. And who may I ask is calling?"I asked, slightly unnerved.

"This is Doctor Carter of the Women and Infants Hospital of Rhode Island. We've got a woman here by the name of Lauren, and she's in critical condition. She's asking for you, but we advise you hurry. She's not looking like she'll make it."

"May I ask what happened?"I breathed, already gathering my things and standing up to go. I walked outside and hailed a taxi. It was a godsend that the taxi was there, seeing as there are never any in that part of Providence. Otherwise, it would've been a 20 minute walk home, then a drive to the hospital. I didn't care the cost right now, I just needed to get to her.

"It appears that she was in a grave car accident. We don't think she's going to make it." Dr. Carter said, rushed. "Listen, I have to go now to attend to Lauren, but please hurry."

I turned to the cabbie. "Women and Infant's Hospital. And hurry!"

I rushed into the emergency room, frantically looking around. I spotted a nurse at the front desk.

"My girlfriend is here somewhere, and I don't know where to go." I huffed, suddenly out of breath.

"Can I see your I.D.? Name?" She asked me, her apathetic attitude apparent. I showed her my I.D., and she copied my name into the computer.

"Lauren, Lauren Mallory."

"Fourth floor, room 462. Elevators are down the hall and to the right." She said, pointing. I took off running.

I breathed deeply as I opened the door. I was not at all prepared for what I saw. Lauren's eyes were nearly swollen shut, her body black and blue. She was intubated, and what seemed like thousands of wires were hooked to her. She cracked open her eye as much as she could, and seemed to smile a little bit. A lot of her body was bandaged, but her right arm was still free. She motioned for me to come over. I stood by her bedside and she grabbed my fingers. She wrote a simple message on the whiteboard in front of her.

"_I want you to have her. She's beautiful and you'll be better for her than any of my family. Take care of her." _She smiled slightly at me. For a minute, I was confused, and then the baby came back to my mind.

"What's her name?" I asked her, knowing I didn't have much time left.

"_Noelle Amelia Cullen. Born December 17__th__, 2011. She has my hair, but she has your eyes." _

I smiled. I could almost imagine our little girl. I was wrong. She wasn't a month old. Apparently, she was premature a month. I felt guilty at Lauren having our baby alone. I grinned knowing that I would be in my baby's life from now on. I held onto Lauren's hand, thinking of our baby. I couldn't wait to meet her. I noticed that Lauren was gradually losing grip. Her eyes closed, and I watched as her heartbeat stopped.  
>Everything was chaos. I was rushed out of the room as a crash cart was wheeled in. "Code Blue, Code Blue!" was called, over and over again. They tried to start her heart, but it was useless. She was gone.<p>

I was completely alone. I realized suddenly that I was now going to be the primary care giver to a small baby that I had never met. Noelle. I needed to see her as soon as I could. She was the only thing I had left, and I realized that I would be taking this little child home with me. I sat down in the waiting room, taking it all in.

The doctor came out. I knew what he was going to say before he said it.

"We did the best we could. I'm so sorry for your loss. Is there anyone we can call?" Dr. Carter asked. I shook my head. "Well, she left you with custody of Noelle. I've taken care of Noelle since before she was born. She's a fighter, that one. If you'd like, I can take you to her…unless you'd like to wait for a while to take it all in."

Hm. That struck me as odd. That made it sound like she had been through a lot. How much had Lauren not told me? I followed Dr. Carter blindly away from the ICU, and walked into the Pediatrics Unit. I was assured several times that Noelle was not hurt, but that they were just keeping her overnight for observation. I walked past all of the rooms.

Finally, we got to a room with a very small bed in it. I noticed a baby, fast asleep peeking out of the blankets. I smiled as I saw Lauren's hair, and I walked quickly over to her. She was very small. I knew that she was a month premature, but still, she was tiny. I ran my fingers through her wisps of light blonde hair, and she started crying. I stopped, startled. I looked at her for the first time with her eyes opened. She yawned and it dawned on me that something about this child was not right. Something about this baby was very different.  
>Noelle had almond shaped green eyes. Her arms were short and she was slightly pudgy. Her nose was a little flatter than other babies, and her tongue seemed too big for her mouth. Her eyes had little white spots in the green, and her head was slightly too small. I stared at her as she reached up for me. I let her little fist hold my pinky finger. Something about my child was vastly different from other babies, and though I had all the signs, I couldn't accept it.<p>

"You do know, right?" Asked Doctor Carter, who I had forgotten was in the room. I didn't answer. I was stunned into silence. I shook my head, wishing that the answer was different. He took that to mean that I didn't know.

"Edward…" he started gently, "Noelle has Down Syndrome."


	2. Chapter 2

** Author's Note: I really hate the words retard and retarded, but I will use them at some points in this story. I really do not endorse using these hurtful words. Parts of this story is offensive, but it's from a first point perspective of someone who hasn't dealt with kids with special needs. He'll learn **

**See you at the bottom.**

"Edward!" I heard my mother call. I could barely look up. I had been sitting on this bench for hours. As soon as I found out, I called my parents and they promised to be on the first flight they could get. Now, fourteen hours later, they were here.

I looked up to see my mother's face shining with tears. I hung my head again, emotionally and physically exhausted. My face was covered with dry tears, and it felt like nothing would ever be okay again. I thought about when Dr. Carter told me, only sixteen hours ago.

_"Edward, Noelle has Down Syndrome." He said. I shook my head, not able to believe it. There was no way that __**my **__baby had Down Syndrome. I closed my head, trying to rattle his words from my head._

_ "There must be a mistake. Lauren didn't say anything about this. There's no way that my baby has Down Syndrome." I said, my voice cracking with stress and disbelief._

_ "I can assure you Edward, that this magnificent and beautiful baby girl is yours." He said calmly. Dr. Carter was starting to look very worried._

_ "I don't believe you! The baby doesn't even look like me. I can't have a baby with Down Syndrome." There was no way that I could have a baby with Down Syndrome. I barely would've been able to take care of a normal baby, so there was no way that I could take care of a baby with Down Syndrome. _

_ Dr. Carter looked very worried. "Is there anyone we can call, Edward? I know you've been through a lot tonight."_

_ "Damn it, this baby isn't mine. There's no one you need to call because this is not mine." I said, my voice rising. This couldn't be my baby. _

_ "Edward, please calm down. You're upsetting her. She's a baby too, and she deserves all the love and affection that all babies need." He said, trying to make me see that she was just a baby._

_ "But she's NOT a normal baby." I yelled. The baby started crying, and Doctor Carter walked over and started petting her head. She whimpered, and hushed as he gave her a pacifier. _

_ "Edward, be reasonable. Look into her little eyes and tell me that she's not yours. She's got your eyes. Please see some reason. This little girl just lost the same person that you did. She lost the only person who had ever cared for her, her mother. She needs her dad." Doctor Carter said. He motioned for me to come over to him. I walked slowly to her bedside and her eyes were trained on me. Her almond shaped jade eyes matched my eye colour to a T. She waved her small fists up at me, a smile brightening her face. Her skin tone matched mine, as pale as could be. _

_ "It's just gas." Dr. Carter commented quietly. This was my baby? Her eyes were the exact color of mine, with the only exception being the little white spots. This was my baby, I had no doubt in my mind. How was I going to deal with a child with Down Syndrome?_

_ "Why didn't she tell me?" I asked quietly, mostly to myself. This little girl was staring at my hair, her mouth wide open, tongue out. I smiled at her. She shook her little fists wildly. God, she was so tiny. She defiantly had Lauren's hair. Her hair was light and wispy, but it was a shiny golden blonde. She was a beautiful baby. I didn't have a clue how I was going to take care of her though. I wasn't cut out to be a dad to a kid who was retarded. Would she have to be in an institution or something? Would she be able to do anything at all? Would she be able to walk or talk? Would she be able to go to school? Would she be one of those Downy kids that you always see? One of those kids who couldn't even function?_

_ "You know..having a kid with Down Syndrome isn't the end of the world. My little boy, Elliott, has Down Syndrome. There's a ton of resources for kids with Down Syndrome, and their parents. Just because she has Down Syndrome doesn't mean that she can't do anything or that she's going to be stupid. A disability doesn't and shouldn't define a child. And you know, if you really can't take care of her, there's always adoption…or institutionalization." Dr. Carter said. His voice was hopeful, but soon fell to sadness at the prospect that I wouldn't keep her. "It's really your choice. No one else can make it for you. You'll always be her dad though.." His voice trailed off._

_ I thought about all of the bad things that happened in institutions and I shuttered._

_ "Would she have to be institutionalized?" I asked, hoping not._

_ "Most children with Down Syndrome live perfectly normal lives. They hit their milestones, usually a bit late, and function just fine. They're some of the most amazing kids I've ever met. They often have a lot of challenges, but in my opinion, if you're up for the challenge, it's so worth it. Noelle has already had a lot of issues. She had intestinal surgery at only a week old. She had Duodenal Atresia, which is an obstruction of the intestines because the intestines were blocked. Basically, a small problem when treated with surgery." _

_ So Noelle didn't need to be in an institution. Could I really handle baby with Down Syndrome, or did I need to give her up for adoption? It was my decision to make, but I knew I couldn't make it alone._

_ I walked out of the room, taking my phone from my pocket. I dialed the number I had had memorized since I was about seven years old. They picked up almost immediately. _

_ "Mom?" I croaked. "I need you to come be with me for a little bit. I can't do this alone. Bring dad."_

"Edward!" My mom called again. I felt her arms wrap around me and I leaned into her arms. She kissed the top of my head and I felt my father's hand on my shoulder. "What's wrong, baby? We came as soon as we could."

"Lauren and Noelle." I whispered, my head spinning. What was I going to do with this little girl? Could I even keep her? How was I going to care for this sickly baby?

"Noelle? Who's Noelle? And where's Lauren?" My dad asked. I squeezed my eyes shut.

"Noelle is my daughter, and Lauren died last night."

I heard my mother gasp and grasp me tighter. My dad's grip tightened as well.

"Oh Edward, we can't even tell you how sorry we are. Are you alright? Is there anything we can do for you?" I heard my dad ask. I shook my head.

"When did you meet….Noelle? I thought Lauren didn't tell you about the baby."My mom said.

I looked up at her. She looked shaken, and I saw my reflection in her eyes. I looked like a train had run me over. I knew she was shocked to see me in such a state.

"She didn't tell me about Noelle. I hadn't heard from her in months. I didn't even know if she had the baby. I got a call last night that she had been in a car accident. I came here, and Noelle was here. Lauren passed away right after giving me full custody." The explanation came out strangled. I knew that my mother was concerned for me, but I could almost feel her excitement of having her first granddaughter. Emmett and Rosalie had a little boy named Alex who was a year old, but not any girls. Esme's eyes were shining with joy.

"She's down the hall in room 1603 if you want to see her. I'll be fine if you go mom. Please brace yourself." She gave me an odd look.

"Can we go see her together?" Mom asked hopefully. I groaned. I couldn't turn my mother down. I just didn't want to see the look on her face when she found out Noelle had Down Syndrome. I stood up and followed my parents numbly down to the room. They pushed open the door, and I peaked in. Noelle was fast asleep, her little head barely poking out of the blankets, just like it had been when I first met her. My mother started walking to her, and I turned toward the door. What would she think of this abnormal, weird little girl?

I watched my feet as I stayed near the door. I heard my parents gasp, and I shut my eyes. Here it comes, I thought. I heard as Noelle yawned and started crying. I heard my mother quiet her with quiet shushes and a small hummed lullaby. Noelle's cries quieted quickly. I knew that they must be so disappointed.

I felt my dad's hand grasp my shoulder. To my surprise, he said "She's absolutely beautiful son. Not what we were expecting, but she's perfect."

I felt the tears well up in my eyes. He had to be joking, right? Sarcasm? My mother must be so sad. I turned around to see my mother holding and rocking my daughter, bouncing slightly as she went. She was humming a lullaby that she used to sing to me when I first came to their home. She was smiling so brightly as tears were streaming down her face. She looked up at me and smiled.

"Edward….she's beautiful." My mother whispered. Noelle's jade eyes opened at me, then closed again. That's when it hit me.

This was _my _daughter. This was my flesh and blood. She was completely mine now. She was a living, breathing human being, with feelings and needs. I had been around kids with Down Syndrome in my school. I saw that they were sweet kids who did the same things as all of us. As odd as it was for me to say, I had to admit that my daughter did have Down Syndrome and that didn't make her any less my daughter. It truly hit me then. This is my daughter. She was alive and well and mostly healthy. I was disappointed that she wasn't "normal", but mostly, I was terrified. How was I, a barely twenty-four year old, going to take care of a baby with Down Syndrome?

Noelle started crying profusely and wouldn't stop. Mom looked concerned. She looked up at me and smiled, motioning for me to come over. I walked over, watching Noelle. Mom smiled as she put Noelle into my arms, and suddenly, everything felt right. She stopped crying to look up at me. I felt myself relax as I held my baby for the first time and she touched my stubbly face. Her eyebrows wrinkled as she touched it and I smiled.

"Edward?" My mom asked.

"Hm?"

"Move to Seattle." She started. I opened my mouth to protest but she cut me off. "You'll have people who know you, she can grow up near Alex, you'll have support. Your father and I can help out with the baby, and I'm sure that Rosalie and Emmett would be happy to help. There's a great pediatric hospital and tons of programs up there for kids with Down Syndrome. You can get your credits transferred to Udub."

I thought about it for a minute. Did I really want to give Noelle up for adoption? I looked at the small baby in my arms and knew the answer.  
>After holding this baby, I could and would never give her up for adoption. I couldn't leave my little girl. I had nothing that kept me here in Providence now anyway. I really would need help with her, so I made the decision almost automatically.<p>

"Will you get me a furnished, two bedroom apartment, that's close to your's and Emmett's houses and move my stuff up there?" I asked, knowing that they would.

Mom squealed, and dad looked happy. I sighed as I looked down at my beautiful daughter. She yawned and closed her eyes again. I knew that I had a lot of challenges ahead of me, but I was willing to take them as they came. I smiled as I rocked her, and eventually, her light snores were heard. Dad snuck out to make some calls and try to find housing. Mom went to get baby supplies, seeing as Noelle was being released in six hours. I hummed the same soft melody as she drifted in dreams. My life was changing for the better, and for the first time in a long time, I didn't feel numb.

**Author's Note: Awwww. He's a daddy, and he's keeping her and moving to Seattle. As I said, this story is so near and dear to my heart. It's not going to be a drama….just a nice story. I changed my profile so please look at it! I'm also desperately looking for a serious beta! There's a link to the lullaby and to what Noelle looks like in my profile. Can I ask for maybe 3 or 4 reviews for this?**

**Thanks! -Kassie**


	3. Chapter 3

I groaned as I put down the box full of records. How many boxes of this stuff was there? It seemed like there had been a million of them so far. It had been a week and four days since I left the hospital that day, and I had quit my job, and changed school transfers to U-Dub. Mom and dad hadn't left my side the entire time, and I hadn't had to do a single thing on my own. I had learned how to feed Noelle, which needed to be often because she was so small, and how to change her diaper. When it came to getting up in the middle of the night, my mom was awesome about helping me.

I wiped the sweat from my brow as I opened the door to the apartment again. It was large and open, and completely white. My mom was in the middle of the living room, dancing with Noelle on the hardwood floor. The apartment had 3 bedrooms. One would be my room, one Noelle's, and one would be my study. I pulled the last box into the living room, and my mom smiled at me. Noelle pulled her head up to look at me, holding it steady and looking at me. She looked back up to mom, and smiled as my mom cooed. Noelle shook her little hand up at my mom and I grinned at them.

My father came in with the moving men who brought in my dining room table and couch. They brought in the bed and the crib, and then brought in the stuff for my study. I smiled as I walked into Noelle's room. My mom had already set up some of her things, and the wallpaper was a light yellow. Dad started unpacking some of the boxes, as I looked out the window. I hadn't been in Seattle since I was little. The bright lights of the city and the Sky Needle looked down at me. I could see U-Dub from my window, and a hospital nearby.  
>"Edward?" My mom called. I turned around to look at her. "Can you take Noelle? I'm going to decorate and finish her room." I smiled lightly at her, walking over to take my fragile baby from her arms. I knew that my mom would go all out on her first granddaughter's room. Before leaving Providence, Noelle slept in a crib in my parent's room. This would be Noelle's first real room, and I was excited to let her see it. I knew she wouldn't care much. She was a baby, but I really did care that her room would be perfect.<p>

Mom handed Noelle over to me, and she started to cry. I rocked her back and forth, hushing her wails. She wouldn't stop crying, so I started making raspberries. She looked up at me with her big green eyes trained on my face. I smiled down at her, and she hit at me with her tiny hands. Suddenly, she burped very loudly, and startled herself. I took my sweater and wiped the spit off of her chin, only to have it dribble back down a minute later. I couldn't help but laugh at the stunned look on her face.

I rocked her back and forth, bouncing her slightly. I realized, once again, that this was my daughter. This was part of who I am. She would be connected to me in so many ways that I didn't yet know and would never fully understand. Noelle was also the one connection I had to the woman I still loved. This tiny person was a part of me, and would now be a part of my life forever. I had gone from totally alone in the world, to back with my parents, my brother, and with a daughter. I still didn't totally

I would graduate from U-Dub in a few months with my Master's degree in accounting. Did I really want to be an accountant? No, but it would be a steady job in the future. I hated working in tax preparation, and bookkeeping. I despised pay roll services and accounting. I couldn't stand business. But each time I had thought about quitting, I thought about my baby that I had never met. Now I could think of Noelle. I was doing this for Noelle. Would it be as much money as a doctor? Of course not, but it would be something with a solid job, and a high enough income. My parents were paying for the apartment, and I felt bad about it, but Seattle was expensive, and with all of the expenses for Noelle, I needed some help.

I rocked Noelle back and forth a little slower, not bouncing at all. She looked up at me, yawning, as her eyes closed slowly. I smiled at her, rubbing her soft hair slightly. Her eyes closed and she snuggled into my side. I kissed her wispy hair, rocking her back and forth. I walked with Noelle into my bedroom, laying her down next to me as I just watched her sleep. She suckled in her sleep, as if she wanted a bottle, and she flailed her little legs. I smiled at her, and she whimpered in her sleep. Being a father was exhausting. While I didn't have to take care of her by myself (yet), she did keep me awake. I could hear her cries in the middle of the night, and my mother putting her back to sleep. The fact that she had Down Syndrome didn't change pretty much anything when it comes to what a two month old does. She was still hitting some basic milestones, but not as many as babies without Downs. She was constantly eating, sleeping, pooping, peeing, crying, or just watching things. She was fascinated with the world, but boy, when she was unhappy with something…well, let's just say I'd never heard a baby cry as loudly as Noelle did. She fell asleep fast to a tape that we found in Lauren's apartment that was marked "Lullabies". It calmed Noelle almost immediately, but we rarely played it.

I was constantly watching her now. I knew my parents would be leaving my apartment soon, and that I couldn't ask them to live with me any longer. I was a dad now. They knew I needed to act like one. They had set the move out date for 2 days after I moved to Seattle. It was planned that way so they could help get some things unpacked, but that I could still take care of Noelle as soon as possible, and organize some things. Mom was an interior designer now, but she said she had some references to some babysitters that would help watch Noelle while I was at school. It tore at me that I would have to leave her, but if I didn't go to school, I wouldn't be able to support Noelle.

Mom came and took Noelle from next to me, putting Noelle on her shoulder. Noelle started fussing, but my mom quickly hushed her. I knew that my mom was concerned for Noelle's safety when she slept next to me in bed, but I could never fall asleep with my baby next to me. Mom put her in the bassinet while my dad set up the crib. She had struggled a bit with the crib, and really only liked being in the bassinet. Mom moved the bassinet into my room, and placed my sleeping baby in it. I grinned as I heard a slight sigh come from the bassinet. I was exhausted. Moving had taken so much longer than I thought. The projected time was 48 hours. What I forgot was that babies don't exactly love long car trips. We had travelled about 13 hours each day, with a few rest stops to calm Noelle down, to eat, and to go to the bathroom. For the first few hours, Noelle had kept her eyes wide open as she suckled on a bottle. Her eyes trailed the things outside the windows of the car, and she struggled against her car seat straps. Her little tongue was always out of her mouth. I had found out that almost all children with Down Syndrome had large tongues and smaller mouths, causing their tongues to protrude from their mouths. It caused a lot of spit to be on her chin, but already, I didn't mind that I had baby drool over almost all of my shirts. Her little almond eyes shifted around often, still fascinated with the world she had never seen before. Her little chubby, overly spaced fingers grasped hard around anything she could get her hands on. Her grip was surprisingly strong. She was constantly constipated, and had bad diaper rash, so diaper times were hard and often disappointing. No one ever tells you that when your baby doesn't poop, that it's disappointing. I suppose not all parents had this issue, but Noelle was cranky when she couldn't poop, and it was hard to see her so upset.

We had gotten all the normal baby things. We had kept Noelle's crib from Lauren's house (her dad was happy to get rid of the baby and all remnants of her) but the bassinet had been Jasper's. Jasper had been adopted when he was a baby, and I had just been adopted as well. He was 18 now, and I was 6 when he was adopted. Mom and dad had been trying to adopt Jasper when I came into their lives, so they adopted us both. It had been hard to adapt to having a newborn in the house. My birth mother had another child, a three year old, but she hadn't been abandoned with me. It took me a long time to get over the fact that my mother just didn't want me. Only me. I didn't know why she didn't want me, but it took me a long time to get over it.

I shared a room with Emmett those first few years. I had nightmares all the time, and he took care of me. He was 4 years older than me, so was now 27. I couldn't believe our babies were about the same age. Alex, Emmett's son, was 4 months old. They had a lot of trouble with getting pregnant. It was ironic considering that I had a baby unexpectedly. I hadn't met Alex yet. They hadn't come and visited, and I refused to go see them. I was mad because Emmett and Rosalie hadn't supported me when Lauren got pregnant, and Emmett got a job in Seattle around the same time as dad. Rosalie happily moved, and I was alone in Rhode Island. I just realized that Jaspers birthday was last week. He was stationed in England right now, after being in Germany for a few months. He had joined the Army the day after his 18th birthday. He didn't want mom and dad to pay for his college. He knew they had the money, but after learning about how his birthparents had gotten married young, had multiple children, and couldn't take care of them, mooching off of the government for every cent they had, he refused to take charity. He still had issues with his adoption, always very angry and out of control about things. He felt that mom and dad had done enough for him, so he joined the Army to pay for his schooling, and staying far away from relationships. Emmett had done law school with Rosalie by his side, and Jasper was becoming a Psychiatrist. He had gone to many in his life time, and felt that he could do some good.

I had always been good at math and didn't have time to do an extra three-ten years to become a doctor, a lawyer, or anything else. I needed what gave me the most money for the least time. Becoming an accountant was the fastest thing and would provide a nice enough income. Even if it meant giving up my dreams.

I grabbed my iPhone, playing a soft lullaby. I laid back in my bed, falling asleep quickly, listening to my baby's soft snore. And for the first time in a long time, everything felt right.

**A/N: Hey guys. Sorry for the long wait. I'll be writing every weekend or two now. Anyway, can I get 4 reviews for this? Thanks! –Kassie**


End file.
